CENTRAL NEW YORK – Returning from a full week off, the Marcellus boys lacrosse team again displayed why it stood a good chance of returning to the state Class D championship game in June.
The state Class D no. 3-ranked Mustangs would meet Jordan-Elbridge Thursday night and pile up the goals from start to finish in the course of a 22-4 victory over the Eagles.
Even with a running clock toward the end of the first half, Marcellus managed nine goals in the opening period and 10 more in the second quarter, Chris Doshna leading the way thanks to five goals and two assists.
Adam Rayfield had three goals and three assists, with Nick Rayfield also scoring three times. Donavan Fraher had two goals and two assists, Henry Lawrence also converting twice as Jimmy Cox had a goal and four assists.
Three of J-E’s four goals came from Nixon Karcz, the other going to Casey Ryan. Jayden Castaldo added an assist, with Austin Brunelle and Alex Waldon combining for 10 saves.
This came two days after Marcellus took down Homer 15-5, a game that got away when the Mustangs went on a 7-1 tear through the second quarter to extend its halftime margin to 10-2.
The balance between the top two lines – three goals from Doshna, Cox and Nick Rayfield, two goals from Fraher, Connor Ciota and Adam Rayfield – was nearly perfect, with Fraher and Doshna getting two assists apiece.
A 15-2 win over Section VI’s Lakeshore followed on Saturday night, the Mustangs rolling again as Fraher and Cox led with four goals apiece, while Doshna had two goals and three assists. Adam Rayfield (two goals, two assists) and Nick Rayfield (one goal, three assists) continued to produce, too.
While Marcellus routed J-E, Skaneateles, holding the no. 4 state Class D ranking right behind Marcellus, made quite a statement of its own, nearly getting a shutout of Cazenovia as it prevailed 13-1 in this latest Lakers duel.
Between them, Jack Marquardt and Luke Logan stopped 12 of Cazenovia’s 13 shots, while on the other end Skaneateles managed to have nine different goal-scorers.
Only Landen Brunelle had a hat trick, with Jack Torrey and Sean Kerwick getting two goals apiece. Carter Loi got four assists and Charlie Carbonaro three assists as he joined Luke Mizro, Addison Taggart, Andrew Gaglione, Tye Kennedy and Dom Carbacio with single goals. Mizro had a pair of assists.
Two days later, Skaneateles defeated Chenango Forks (Section IV) 15-4, outscoring the Blue Devils 7-0 in the second and third periods to get away as Brunelle beat up Forks with six goals and two assists. Torrey added three goals and Mizro scored twice as Kerwick got a goal and four assists.
Westhill, who had fallen back to no. 10 in the state Class D rankings, suffered another setback last Tuesday when it got contained by visiting Christian Brothers Academy in an 8-3 defeat.
Despite its 3-8 record, CBA was steeled by the tough schedule it faced and, on this day, slowed things down during a first half where it kept Westhill off the board, even as it only managed a 1-0 lead.
Then things opened up in the second half and the Brothers, with six different goal-scorers (Only Vince Lazzaro and Will Cannizzo scored twice), pulled away.
All that Westhill could manage was single goals by Jack Hayes, Tom Pendergast and Owen Etoll, everything else turned back as Brothers goalie Rico Petrosillo stopped 11 of the 14 direct shots he faced.
It nearly carried over into Thursday’s game against LaFayette/Onondaga, but Westhill did just enough to win 8-7, overcoming a 4-2 halftime deficit with a big third quarter that tied it, 7-7, and then holding on once it gained the lead in the final period.
Keller O’Hern saved the Warriors in multiple ways, negating the Lancers’ shot disparity by stopping 17 of the 24 shots he faced. On the other end, Pendergast and Andrew Mondo, with three goals apiece, accounted for most of the offense, Etoll and Charlie DeMore each adding a goal and assist.
Back on Monday night, J-E moved to 7-5 on the season by beating Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 15-5, the getaway taking place throughout the first half as the Eagles built a 9-3 advantage on the Red Devils.
Most of the production came from three players as Karcz got five goals and one assist, with Castaldo and Wyatt Werthh scoring four times. Werth added two assists as Casey Ryan and Gavin Windhausen had the other goals.
